12. Abbiategrasso to Bereguardo

610

Water

Embed this item to access it offline

The long straight line to Bereguardo may seem monotonous but it plunges back into the tranquility of a journey through the fields in the agricultural plain of the Po.

Total return to the countryside without a village crossed with a path that runs along a totally rectilinear canal until the arrival of the stage.

4 points of interest

Castello Visconti - Amis St Colomban
Historical
Visconti Castle
The thirteenth-century Visconti Castle of Abbiategrasso was built in 1381 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti and embellished after 1438 by Filippo Maria Visconti. It was strategically built in line with the Naviglio Grande and the Milan-Vigevano road.
Oratorio San Francesco
Cultural
Oratory Cascina Bugo San Francesco
The oratory is dedicated to San Francesco and probably dates from the 15th century. Located near the Bugo farm, the church, with a single room, a gable roof and a small bell tower, is an interesting example of a 15th century rural oratory. First dedicated to the Holy Crucifix, it was baptized after the plague of 1576 according to Saint Sebastian, but the date of Saint Francis' dedication is not established. The interior has a ceiling of exposed beams and a square apse with a vaulted ceiling and preserves a remarkable fresco, recently restored, attributed to the 15th century.
Abbazia Morimondo
Historical
Abbey of Morimondo
The monastery of Morimondo, a name that means "to die in the world", i.e. "to live as if resurrected", was founded in 1134 in Coronate, a place that still exists about a kilometre from the abbey, by monks from the Cistercian monastery of Morimond in France. In 1136 they moved to "Campo Falcherio", the present seat. In a short time, the monastery grew in importance and received many vocations from all social classes. Even before the construction of the church, the monks founded two other communities: in 1143 Acquafredda (Como) and in 1169 Casalvolone (Novara). A remarkable and eloquent sign of the richness of vocations is witnessed by the flourishing activity of the scriptorium. From an agricultural point of view, too, there was considerable expansion with a large number of barns, oratories and mills situated on a territory of about 3200 hectares in the 13th century, two thirds of which were cultivated fields and one third woods.
Bereguardo
Historical
Castle of Bereguardo
Bereguardo Castle, first Visconti, then Sforza, stands in the centre of the village, on a natural terrace overlooking the Ticino, surrounded by the remains of the old moat that drew water from the nearby Naviglio.

Description

Go up via Sancta Maria to the Visconteo castle, along it by the Corso Giacomo Matteotti and continue in the same direction after the roundabout and the railway line on via Giuseppe Mazzini. At the Chiesa di San Rocco, turn right into Via Tommaso Grossi until the end where a pedestrian crossing crosses the SP494 and joins the canal at a change of orientation towards the South East:

Follow the bicycle / pedestrian track that runs along the straight canal in the middle of the fields it irrigates. The track crosses a road that joins the industrial area (right) and the hamlet of Caselle di Morimondo (left). Continue up to the next asphalt road on the right.
This path by a round trip allows you to visit Morimondo and its abbey. At the end, continue along the canal, pass by the bridge of Sassi at Cascina Conca.
Continue on the track and cross small paved roads at Cascina Fornace, Cascina dell'Acqua and Cascina Caiella on the SP190 which connects Motta Visconti to Casorate Primo.
Continue along the edge of the canal that passes near other farms (Cascina Morona and Fornaseta). At the entrance to Bereguardo, the canal changes direction.
Continue along the canal to the village centre. At the end of the path, turn right, walk past the war memorial and reach the destination point visible in front.

Departure : Church of Santa Maria Vecchia, via Santa Maria, 20081 Abbiategrasso
Arrival : Kirche Sant'Antonio Abate, Via Sant'Antonio 1, 27021 Bereguardo
Towns crossed : Lombardia